There are SO many different labor positions that you can try during your birth even with an epidural in place! Below is just one of them!
We tend to intuitively move in a way that OPENS your pelvis and helps your baby navigate through your pelvis WITHOUT even thinking about it but this can be disrupted when an epidural is in place.
Get Baby IN Your Pelvis
If baby is still “high” or not yet engaged, we can focus on opening the inlet, or the top of the pelvis, with movement!
When thinking of this in regard to pelvic station, this would be anything above -2 station
The top of the pelvis opens more with:
- External rotation of the femurs (wide knees) creates more space side to side (generally creates the MOST space of the three options)
- Posterior pelvic tilt moves the sacral promontory posterior creating more space front to back
- Anterior pelvic tilt makes external rotation EASIER and can change the pelvic angle allowing baby to enter the inlet
The goal at the inlet is to get baby IN your pelvis or get baby to ENGAGE into the pelvis so that they put more pressure against the cervix for labor progress.
One of our favorite movements to do to open the inlet when an epidural is in place is Flying Cowgirl!
Flying Cowgirl: Resting/Epidural Inlet Opener
The top of the pelvis is opened more with external rotation of the femurs and pelvic tilting. The Flying Cowgirl is a great labor position to achieve both of those movement patterns!
In Flying Cowgirl:
- Lay on your left or right side
- Place a Peanut Ball or Pillows/Blankets between the knees to open the legs into external rotation
- Then Fully extend in the hips, bringing the legs behind you
- You are not thrusting in the chest but extending in the hips!!
- If you find you can’t get that full hip extension, having someone else help you by placing a hand underneath the bottom hip and then pulling you forward.
Flying Cowgirl is a great labor position to open the TOP of the pelvis to help baby engage or enter the pelvis when an epidural is in place or we are wanting to rest on our side during labor, BUT we need to ensure we can find this movement pattern during pregnancy so it is more easily accessible during labor!
Prepare for Flying Cowgirl
We need to be able to achieve:
- External rotation of the femurs: wide knees
- Hip Flexor mobility
- To be able to achieve the full hip extension to get a posterior tilt of the pelvis
1. Half Kneeling Lunge Stretch
The Half Kneeling lunge stretch variations are a great way to gain mobility in the Hip flexors.
Movement tips:
- When in the half lunge, being in a supported position you can hold for a few seconds
- Being near something you can grab onto for balance
- Widen the stance of the legs for more support
- Life and stretch the opposite arm as the forward leg
- You should feel the stretch in the front of your rear leg
- You can reach as far as needed, and can even grab onto something for an even deeper stretch
Watch the breakdown video to learn HOW to do this movement!
Open the Pelvis to Help Baby Engage
Movement is key for labor progress! Motion is lotion!
We can create space in each pelvic level based on the type of labor position we find. We do NOT want to maintain a static position our entire labor, but rather change positions every 20-30 minutes!
Exploring labor positions during pregnancy to FEEL which positions allow you to release and relax the most; which ones are most comfortable for you; and which ones feel the BEST for you can help you know what to use during labor
MOST being the important word.